"Yagh! Take this Yume!" Guy proclaimed as he attacked with a flurry of fast pace movements that I steadily blocked one after the other, the both of us grinning as we matched speed against speed. We were training hard against one another, both of us wanting to keep in top physical condition and as Guy landed a blow against my chest I caught his wrist and locked it in place, my smirk deepening as I then lifted it up to open a space and with a quick movement, flung him over my head with a yell.

"Ha! Another point to me!" I declared victoriously with a smile as I stepped back and pointed to Guy as he groaned, rubbing the back of his head as I placed my other hand on my hip. "That makes us dead even now, right?"

"That's right Yume, but I will not be deterred! Next time I shall emerge victorious and then it shall be a long and sorry streak of defeat for you." He told me surely and I chuckled as he then began to do a thousand push ups for his defeat, saying that it wasn't really a defeat as it meant he got to put in more training. I worried about him sometimes for pushing himself so hard but I never discouraged him as it made him happy. So long as he was happy then that was all that mattered. Sitting down to relax a little I bathed in the warm sunlight, reminding myself again that it would still be some months before Kushina was ready to give birth.

They believe because she's the Jinchuriki of the nine tails, my sister would carry for a little longer than what was usual however we were past the worst stage with the morning sickness and stuff, so now she was just eating three times her weight every day. Minato doted on her and didn't even seem to mind when she let her fiery temper lose, smiling at her lovingly all the while as the pregnancy drove her near crazy. Speaking of which, she's heading this way. "Hey Kushina, how do you feel today?" I asked her as she smiled and waved.

"Oh I'm fine, I'm not that big yet so don't worry about me." She assured me every time I saw her out and about. This woman, she's going to be up on her feet until the moment she's about to deliver, I can just see it. "I just wanted to ask what you wanted for dinner, I'm about to go shopping for food so I thought I'd stop by to get a list." Getting up as she approached she stopped and looked over to Guy who was still determinedly doing all his push ups. "Is he still…?"

"No, this is another set completely. He reached five hundred yesterday but now he wants to hit one thousand." I said and the both of us giggled quietly to ourselves before I turned and called out. "Hey Guy! Come on and lend us a hand, we need to go food shopping."

"If I can be of assistance it would make me very happy, I am a youthful young man after all and I would be glad to lend my strength." He said with a grin and giving a thumbs up which made my sister chuckle again before she beckoned us both to follow. Guy bounded forwards and marched proudly by our side as I drifted a little dreamily forwards, almost getting separated but my sister expertly grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the way of a horse and cart, making me blink before exhaling with relief. I'd almost been squished.

"Still daydreaming?"

"Always." I answered honestly at my sister's tease before making myself pay a little more attention. I have to be responsible now, Kushina will need my help looking after the baby which means I'll have to watch its every move to make sure there's never any danger. The streets weren't all that busy today, in fact it was rather quiet. Kushina and I purchased the ingredients we needed for a stew pot and Guy insisted on carrying everything no matter how heavy it got, saying that it was good muscular training though I warned him not to overdo it.

Dreaming about stew and a tasty dessert I didn't realise where I was going until I had accidentally wandered into a vegetable stall and knocked over the tomatoes so that they spilled everywhere on the floor, making me wince guiltily. Just great, I'm such an airhead. "Hey! You stupid little punk, look what you've done to my goods!" The stall owner was of course none too pleased that I'd ruined some of his stock even though I hastily tried to pick everything up. "You going to pay for them or what? This counts as destruction of property right? I'll make sure you're paying me back with every penny you own!"

"I'm sorry sir, it was an accident, I wasn't paying attention." I explained to him apologetically though I was unamused by his lashing tone. He wasn't a local, he must be one of the merchants who came in from the outskirts to sell his produce where he could turn a better profit for it. Seems like his luck is down though seeing as some of these tomatoes were soft and beginning to rot. Gross.

"Accident or not, you still need to pay so dig out your wallet brat!" He continued to roar and I looked down towards my cheek where his saliva had sprayed me so I carefully wiped it away with the back of my hand, forcing myself not to shudder. Extremely gross.

"Calm down sir, my sister didn't mean any-!" Even though my sister had tried to be diplomatic and calm the situation down the stall owner lashed out without even looking, sending my sister flying backwards and crashing into a pile of produce and tumbled to the floor with a look of unbound shock on her face. My entire body went cold, staring stupidly at my sister on the ground before all at once, everything burned hot and my blood roared. A deep rumbling sound reverberated all around despite it being a clear day and the light turned murky as my anger suddenly swelled.

I was so taken aback by everything that I did not even think to contain my anger like I usually did. It just snapped. My teeth bared and the air began to swirl around me, snapping at fabric and everyone stopped to look up and see me glowering with pure rage at the stall owner who finally seemed to notice his mistake. "Yume!" Kushina called out but I couldn't hear her over the thundering roar that screamed in my own head. My hair writhed and I could feel it seemingly glow with heat as my eyes turned from magenta to intensely hot pink with a glowing ring around the pupil. Markings of pure white burned into my skin in long lined patterns on my face and body, following the lines of my features whilst my chakra built up to overwhelming new heights. "Everybody run!" Kushina yelled before suddenly disappearing.

I was howling, snarling in outrage as the wind slashed at everything around me like blades of air, slashing through the stalls and tearing up the street until suddenly I felt a cool hand grip my burning wrist and it were like a bucket of icy water were thrown over me. "Yume, please calm down." Kakashi. His other arm fought off the blast of air that surrounded us and came around my front so that he was embracing me from behind, the rage I felt quickly disappeared and I exhaled a breath as I suddenly felt like I had been holding up a mountain with just one hand.

Trying not to fall I staggered on my feet but Kakashi quickly steadied me with the support of his arms, sinking down to the ground so that I could rest a little. "What just happened? I feel like I blacked out." I murmured, confused as to why I felt this way. The last thing I remembered was that guy ripping into me about his stupid tomatoes and him pushing Kushina. Kushina. "Where's my sister?"

"I got her out, don't worry. Guy too." He assured me as I quickly looked to see the devastation I had wrecked. Everything was sliced to pieces and people were only now just beginning to emerge from the places they cowered rightfully in fear. "No one was hurt."

"Was…was this me? Did I do this?" I wondered a little wearily, blinking as I heard my sister calling out my name. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to get so angry but he pushed Kushina. He shouldn't have done that, he could have hurt the baby…"

"I understand. You're safe now, I won't let anything hurt you." Kakashi's words were so kind that I couldn't help but smile as Guy came skidding to a halt before us and gripped onto one of my hands. I think I must have passed out after that because the next time I awoke I was in the infirmary with some rather nervous looking medics and doctors standing a little too far away from me.

"Relax, I'm not going to explode or anything." I sighed as I sat up, rubbing my head. "Why am I here?"

"We kept you in overnight for observation, Hokage thought it necessary to check that all seals were still functioning and to monitor your condition to ensure there were no aftereffects to your sudden outburst." One of the doctors piped up squeakily and I blushed a little bashfully. They looked all so scared of me, it kind of hurt a little.

"She shouldn't even be in the village. It's bad enough with one monster walking around, two is just too much." One of the medics whispered, apparently thinking that I wouldn't be able to hear but I had sharp hearing. I made no reply or gave indication that I had heard, merely pulled back the covers and slid out of bed, glad to see that I was still fully dressed.

"Wait! We need to finish our tests…"

"I'm fine, I don't need any more fuss." I said dismissively and they were all too frightened to argue with me so I walked out without anyone stopping me. When I got outside my door however, I was surprised to find Guy sleeping there. "Hey, wake up Guy. Have you been there all night?" I asked him quizzically and the moment he heard my voice he sprung to his feet.

"Yume! Are you alright? Does anything hurt?" He immediately asked, looking me up and down to see if there were any strange marks but I assured him everything was fine.

"See? Still all in one piece. Can we go now? I hate this place. It gives me the creeps." I said with a shudder and Guy instantly offered to carry me on his back but I was alright to walk so he carefully observed me with every step I took almost as if he expected me to keel over. "Stop looking so worried Guy, I'm completely fine! See? I can walk on my hands and everything." To prove a point I jumped onto my hands and walked out of the hospital like that, making Guy laugh as he relaxed.

"That's good, I'm glad you're okay. I was worried about you." I was sorry to make him worry but he assured me that that's what friends are for. Speaking of friends, I want to find Kakashi and thank him for helping me. Guy offered to help me with my search and we scoured the entire village, however later he had to leave to go with his team on a mission so I waved him goodbye and told him to come back soon safe and sound. With him now gone, I went on my way back home where my sister was waiting outside, looking up and down the street and the moment she saw my red hair she came running.

"Yume! There you are Yume, I was told you left the hospital! You should have stayed to make sure everything was alright, how do you feel?" She questioned and I smiled to her in greeting as she caught my face in her hands before then punching my head. "You dummy! Don't go scaring me like that it's bad for the baby! If you think I'm not angry with you for wrecking all those stalls then you've got another thing coming you should have held in your temper and just decked the guy instead of destroying his shop!" She yelled at me and strangely, it felt good to hear her angry. When Kushina yelled it just told you how much she cared. After getting all her anger and worry off her chest she seized me in her arms and held me close. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry, I was just so mad I couldn't hold it in. He was a real jerk." I pouted as I thought about that rude stall tender. I wasn't sorry about his rotten tomatoes or mushy bananas, I couldn't care less to be honest. "But are you okay? I didn't hurt you did I? Did you go to the doctor to get everything checked out?"

"I'm alright, they said that there was nothing wrong but I was lucky. A fall like that at this stage could have proven fatal to the baby." My pulse quickened and I must have suddenly gone very pale and sickly green as Kushina gripped my arms to hold me upright. "But it didn't happen so from now on we're going to be even more careful, okay? Honestly little sis, you need to pay better attention to your surroundings." Almost as if her words made something click inside my head, I suddenly became aware of Kakashi's presence nearby. I frowned but didn't think on it too much, going into the house and doing my chores and occasionally cast out my senses.

Sure enough he was still there and when Kushina went out later it followed her. This was weird, why would Kakashi be following my sister? Maybe Minato put him up to it as a means to keep her safe. It would make sense. So later in the evening I grabbed a few snacks left over from dinner and tiptoed past Kushina and Minato's bedroom where they lay sleeping, opening a window and stowing out the back before teleporting myself to the roof. "Beautiful night, isn't it Kakashi?" My sudden appearance made him yelp and almost lose his balance but I quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him back from where he had tipped precariously over the edge. "Sorry. I brought food, hungry?"

"Yume." Kakashi sighed, touching a hand to his head. "You should be asleep."

"So should you." I argued back with a gentle smile as I sat down and began to pull out the sandwiches I had made. "You know, I think when Minato asked you to guard my sister he didn't mean at night as well. Seeing as he's home and so am I, she couldn't be safer."

"I…how did…?" Exhaling with slight exasperation Kakashi came and sat down with me but did not accept any food so instead I wrapped up his share and handed it to him.

"At least have it later. Eating is very important for a ninja, it gives us strength." I quoted my sister without even realising it, giving Kakashi a smile before swallowing the sandwich I had in two bites. "I've been looking for you all day. I wanted to thank you for what you did at the market yesterday, calming me down like that. Even though I don't know how you did it, you really saved my butt. Thank you Kakashi." In answer he nodded his head and I exhaled, a little put out by how standoffish he was being. I mean, more than usual and it hurt a little. "Kakashi…did I do something? Do you dislike me now?" I asked him before I suddenly tensed up with worry. "Are you afraid of me?"

"No!" He protested so loudly and suddenly that I blinked, surprised as his hand shot out and gripped mine. "I mean, no. Nothing like that. I just like being alone most of the time. It's better if I'm alone, I can't get others hurt or killed that way." So that's what it was, I should have guessed. Relaxing again I shifted closer to Kakashi and refused to let him escape, pulling his arm so that it draped around me and I snuggled in close to him.

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm from the proud clan of Uzumaki, which means we can get struck by a hundred knives or punched a thousand times and we'd still get back up on our feet. I won't die easily, Kakashi, so don't worry about me. I don't like seeing you alone all the time, I want you to be smiling and happy again." Holding back a yawn I slipped my arms around him, taking him once more by surprise at the close contact. "What happened wasn't your fault, Kakashi. You tried your best but just because you couldn't save them, doesn't mean you're to blame, you know? I won't let you torture yourself like this, it's not fair. It's not fair to make yourself suffer and it's even less fair to make those who care about you watch." Kakashi suddenly stiffened, staring as I finally hit home with my words. Good, maybe he'll think about that a little but for now, I think I need a nap. There was a cooling night breeze and the stars were so pretty up in the heavens that I couldn't help but fall asleep into pleasant dreams, comforted that I had my friend so close to me.

Without a word Kakashi lifted me up and I mumbled in my sleep, vaguely aware of the fact that we were moving before he carried me back inside, expertly dropping down to the window and sliding inside without even disturbing me. With meticulous care Kakashi lay me down on my futon and placed the blanket over me, making sure I was comfortable and I woke up a little in time to sense him brush aside my hair and wait a while, running my cherry red hair through his fingers as if he found it fascinating before then leaving, a small gust of a breeze signalling his departure but by that point I was already back asleep.